VOLATILE TRUMP MEETS STOIC INDIA

AS THE U.S. PRESIDENT'S MELTDOWNS CONTINUE, INDIA'S DECISION TO PUT NATIONAL INTEREST ABOVE ITS LARGEST TRADE PARTNER HAS COME AT A COST. BUT NEW DELHI PLANS TO FUTURE-PROOF TRADE BY DIVERSIFYING ITS EXPORT BASE.

- BY JOE C. MATHEW

THE MAVERICK SIDE of U.S. President Donald Trump is no secret. But his post on Truth Social in early September was the quirkiest even by that yardstick. “Looks like we've lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China; may they have a long and prosperous future together!” he captioned a full-size photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China.

Ironically, it was Trump’s tariff tantrums that brought estranged neighbours, India and China, together, with Russia. With the developments, the ‘U.S.-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century’ initiative, jointly announced by Trump and Modi early this year, teeters on the brink.

To isolate Russia and step up pressure on Putin to end the Ukraine war, Trump has resorted to imposing punitive tariffs on countries doing business with Moscow. And India has been at the receiving end. In August, India was slapped with 50% import tariffs: 25% to “correct” the bilateral trade “imbalance” and another 25% as a “penalty” for New Delhi's oil imports from Russia.